International Rescue awarded Nobel Peace Prize'
by JoTracy123
Summary: What happens when Alan sees the local news paper?


Fan Swap Challenge Story

**'International Rescue awarded Nobel Peace Prize.'**

A relaxing weekend had come and gone with no rescues to spoil the chilled atmosphere, until Monday morning when Alan went out to get the morning papers. As usual the paper had been dropped off along with all the mail. Deciding to sort out the mail for everyone Alan set about the mundane task only to find his eyes drawn to the newspaper sitting innocently on top of all the mail.

Picking it up he found himself reading the words. **"International Rescue awarded Nobel Peace Prize."**

Not sure if those words were actually on the paper before him he read it aloud to himself one more time. **"International Rescue awarded Nobel Peace Prize."**

Forgetting the mail altogether Alan took off to his next oldest brother's room. Skidding to a halt in front of Gordon's door Alan knocked knowing that his brother would be up and that he would getting ready for his morning swim. "Gords open your door please, come on?"

Gordon was surprised to hear Alan knocking at his door so early in the morning; he should still be asleep and would only ever get up well after nine. Grabbing his sandals Gordon went over to the door and opened it, only to jump back when Alan came through the door with the newspaper in hand.

"Hey Al, what are you doing with Dad's newspaper?"

Turning around to shut the door Alan held the paper out to Gordon with one hand while shutting the door with the other.

"Look, look at what's on the front page Gords."

Taking the paper from Alan Gordon read the news headlines slowly as to not miss one word of it. **"International Rescue awarded Nobel Peace Prize."** Reading it again Gordon looked at Alan with worry in his eyes.

"Do we even accept such things, didn't dad say that we ask for nothing in return?"

Nodding his head Alan continued.

"I so hope that either Dad or Lady P knows about this, I mean if dad sees this and doesn't know about it. I don't want to be around for the explosion when it happens."

Wincing as the thought crossed his mind Gordon asked. "Um, so Al, what do we do about this paper?"

Shaking his head in dismay Alan answered. "That's what I wanted to ask you. Maybe we could hide it?"

Before Gordon could say anything his door opened and turning around they both saw a grumpy looking Virgil standing there, hair standing on end in all directions. "What are you two yapping about?"

Spotting the newspaper in Gordon's hand Virgil was over to him before he could think of hiding the offending object. Snatching it from Gordon Virgil also read the headline on the front page. Shaking his head at what he saw Virgil asked, now sounding wide awake. "Does Dad know about this?"

Seeing both Alan and Gordon shake their heads Virgil scratched his head absently. "Any idea how we could get off the island before Dad sees this?"

Shaking their heads again Gordon got an idea. "Why don't we go wake Johnny up and ask him, I'm sure he would be able to find out if all this is true or if dad knows about it?"

They all walked out of Gordon's room and over to John's door, hoping that he was already awake. Finding his door open a crack Virgil pushed it open fully and softly went inside. The three nearly jumped a foot into the air when John turned around on his bed looking at them with sleepy eyes.

"What are you guys doing in here? No need to walk softly either you know I wake up when I hear any sound around me."

Spotting the newspaper in Virgil's hand and part of International Rescue written on the front page John held his hand out for it. Walking over Virgil handed him the paper and watched as John read it. **"International Rescue awarded Nobel Peace Prize."**

Looking at the others and seeing that they were just as surprised about the news headlines John shook his head too. "Sorry guys you guys came to ask if I know about this right?"

Seeing Alan, Virgil and Gordon nod their heads John got up out of bed and handed the paper back to Virgil. Then he went over to his bathroom taking some clothes with him and soon came out again looking like he was ready to start his day.

"I think we should go and ask Scott about this guys, any idea as to where we might find him at the moment?"

Looking at the time on his watch Virgil answered. "He should be in the kitchen by now for his morning coffee."

Walking over to the door and opening it for them all to walk through John hoped that Scott would give them all some good news. Heading into the kitchen they found Scott sitting at the table looking like someone had stolen his food. John couldn't help to smile; he knew that Scott was looking for the newspaper to read it before his dad got a hold of it. "Morning Scott, you missing something this morning?"

Looking up and seeing his for brothers standing in front of him Scott's expression changed to worry when he saw two of his brothers who would normally still be found fast asleep in their beds standing in front of him.

"Morning guys, something must be wrong for all of you to be awake already?"

Walking over to the table Virgil handed over the newspaper to Scott who saw the headlines immediately. "What the heck?"

Reading the headlines and the article that followed out loud, so that his brothers could hear, Scott began to wonder what they would do if their Dad found out about it.

"**International Rescue awarded Nobel Peace Prize. International Rescue had become the world's heroes over and over again these past few years, saving lives where all hope was lost. No one knows who they are or where they come from. It's thanks to International Rescue that many families are still alive today. This is why we would like to give this award to them. So if International Rescue is reading this. Could they make contract with this news paper for details."**

Before Scott could finish reading the news article Jeff walked into the kitchen. Whether he had heard what Scott had read or not he didn't know. Not that it mattered too much anyway the fact that his brothers all tensed up when they realized that their Dad was standing behind them pretty much gave the game away.

"Ok boys what is going on here? How come you have my paper Scott?" asked Jeff, sensing that something way wrong.

"Sorry Dad that was my fault. I was sorting through the mail this morning when I saw your paper. I needed to get to the guys for advice because I can tell you now that you are not going to like the front page." Alan said.

"Scott, why don't you hand the paper over to me? I am sure it can't be that bad, whatever it is we can fix it."

"I somehow think that this is going to be imposable to fix Dad. Did you or Lady P know about this?" Asked Scott as he handed the paper to his Father giving in, he knew that he couldn't lie to him. Once Scott had handed the paper to Jeff, he read it for himself.

"Boys I think we need to contact Penny about this. Someone seems to have put us forward for this award. Not that we would want it for what we do for the world." said Jeff.

"Dad dare I ask this, what if it was Lady Penelope that put us forward for this? It's the sort of thing that she would do." Virgil suggested.

"But even so Virgil if she was doing anything like this she would have let me know about it before it hit the papers." said Jeff as he slapped the news paper onto the breakfast table.

"You know something Dad maybe it wasn't Lady Penelope, when you think about the amount of times that we had to rescue Ned Cook. It's a wonder." Gordon said as the thought came into his head.

"Are you trying to say that maybe it was Ned that done this? I mean the guy can be a pain in the butt at times but even so." Virgil reasoned.

"It kind of makes sense in a way. He is about the only person who knows our faces. It's just a wonder he is not wanting to do a story on us."

"Ok boys I am going to go up to the lounge to call Penny to ask her about this. I am hoping that this is not some sort of trap for us to walk into. We have to be careful boys, we don't know who this is coming from."

"When you think about it Dad it's nice to know that people are grateful for what we are doing for them. I'd say we take the award and run." said Gordon with a smile on his face.

"Not that simple son." said Jeff as him and the boys walked into the lounge to call Lady Penelope.

As Jeff and the boys were about to call Lady Penelope, Tin -Tin wandered in with a surprised look on her face.

"Mr Tracy, boys have you seen today's news papers?" Asked Tin-Tin.

"Yes we have. I am about to call Penny now to ask her about this."

"The question is Dad, do we take it or leave it?" asked Scott.

"We will soon find out, this Jeff Tracy calling Lady Penelope, come in Penny can you hear me?"

"_Loud and clear Jeff what can I help you with?"_ asked Lady Penelope

"Well I don't know if you have seen today's papers Penny. The front page says that we 'International Rescue' have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Penny. Do you think it could be some sort of trap to lead us into? Everyone here thinks that it could be Ned Cook who put us forward for this. What are your thoughts on this?"

"_Well I don't know Jeff but I could look into this for you. See what all this is about. If you want to go and accept this then myself and Tin-Tin would be happy to go along and accept the award on behalf of International Rescue. It might be a good idea to send one of the boys along with us too. Send whoever has the lowest profile Jeff. We want to try and keep IR as secret as long as possible." _Penny's voice seemed worried but proud at the same time.

"Ok Penny we will call you once we decide who will be going with you two ladies. I know the perfect person who can go." said Jeff with a smile as he looked over at one of his sons.

"Ok then Jeff dear speak to you all soon bye."

"Now are we going to take this award or not?" asked Alan who was getting very excited about the whole thing., thinking it was him his Father will pick to go with Lady Penelope and Tin-Tin.

"Yes boys we are going to take it, Tin-Tin you will be going along with Penny. I am thinking that Virgil would be the right person to go with them. You seem to keep yourself to yourself when you were younger plus you don't like being in the spot light."

"Ok guys I am in agreement with Dad, Alan you are due up in five in a few days. Brains is almost finished with the repairs to five."

TBTBTBTBTBBBTBTBTBTBTB

That weekend Virgil flew out with Tin-Tin to meet Penelope for the awards ceremony.

Once Virgil and Tin-Tin got settled in at Penny's they had some tea before heading out. Somehow I don't think anyone would have believed what IR was about to get for their work around the world. Eventually Lady Penelope, Virgil and Tin-Tin got to hotel where the award was going to be presented.

"Wow Penny this place looks great." said Tin-Tin as she took a good look round the place.

"Well I better go and get us booked in here and find out where we are sitting." said Virgil who made his way over to the desk.

"Hello, I am here to represent International Rescue with two of our best agents."

From behind the desk a young girl looked up at Virgil. "Good morning Mister uh..."

Smiling down at the girl Virgil wondered for a moment before deciding to just give his first name to the girl, it wouldn't hurt and besides there's quite a few people in the world who might have the same name as him. "Call me Virgil." Seeing the girl hesitate he added. "Don't worry about the surname."

Opening a few screens on her computer in front of her the girl asked. "Are you booking a room or just the seats for you and your agents?"

Giving the girl a gentle shake of his head Virgil answered. "We're not going to stay here Miss, we're just here for the awards ceremony."

Smiling up at Virgil the girl handed him a small envelope. "Here we go Mister Virgil; your seats have already been arranged for you."

Taking the envelope from the girl Virgil thanked her and went off to find Lady Penelope and Tin-Tin. Finding them waiting for him at the entrance to the big conference hall he held the envelope out to them. "Someone has already done everything for us."

Taking the envelope from Virgil Lady Penelope took a small scanner out of her purse and ran it over the envelope. "Nothing in here that could harm us."

Handing it back to Virgil both women waited for him to open it. As soon as it was opened and Virgil had turned it over three golden cards slid out with a program of the nights events. Handing Tin-Tin and Lady Penelope each a card Virgil asked. "What about Parker, Penny, where's he at?"

Giving Virgil a secret little smile Lady Penelope said. "Oh, he's already in there waiting for us."

Tin-Tin hid her face as a grin made its way onto her face, she could only guess what Parker might have done to get in there without someone knowing. "Leave it to Parker to do something like that." She thought as they went forward to enter the hall.

Once inside an elderly man who looked like a butler himself took them to the front near the stage. Just like their cards the table had Golden decorations on it. Looking at the shiny things on the table Tin-Tin softly said. "Looks like they really want everyone to see how special International Rescue are to the world."

As soon as everyone was seated and the doors closed a woman walked onto the stage and stared out to the crowd in front of her. She started to welcome everyone and then she welcomed the guest stars who would be performing on stage to entertain everyone.

Everything went off without a hitch and even the food was enjoyed by everyone. At last it was time to give the award. Making sure that they hadn't made a mess on themselves the three representatives of International Rescue waited to see who the speaker was.

When Ned Cook appeared on stage Virgil whispered. "Gordon was right, it is him."

Looking down at where Virgil, Tin-Tin and Lady Penelope was seated Ned Cook began. "Ladies and gentlemen welcome to this very special event. This is a day that would mean allot to those of us who had been in a situation where we had thought that all hope was lost. Yes, I guess that most of you would remember a day you had been trapped under a ton of rubble or that you were about to drown. You've never thought that someone would even care about you to come and save you that day, why should anyone care about you anyway?"

Looking around the crowd Ned saw that many were nodding their heads and here and there a woman would be wiping away a few tears. "We all know International Rescue would appear from heavens knows where and come to our rescue, no matter if we're rich or poor, big or small. They don't judge us and they treat us all the same way they would treat their own. Well, ladies and gentleman I would like to welcome three of their representatives who had come out here today to except the Nobel Peace Prize."

Standing up from their table Virgil, Tin-Tin and Lady Penelope went up to the stage. As they approached him, Ned spoke again. "Please no photos and no videos may be taken. If anyone tries to do so however your camera might become unusable."

Virgil knew what Ned was talking about, all three of them had a little device with them that would either fry or wipe anyone's camera and phone leaving it useless for good. Ned Cook smiled at Virgil, Tin-Tin and Lady Penelope and softly said as to not let the crowd hear. "I had been asked to hand this award over to you, this isn't my doing this time I promise you that."

Turning away from the three people in front of him Ned gestured to someone at the back of the stage to come forward. A small boy came walking out with a huge looking stand clasp firmly between his hands and held it out to Ned who took it from him. Tin-Tin could see that it was a beautiful cup which was standing in the middle of a stand which had little hooks around it from which a medallion hung. Counting them Tin-Tin realized that there were one for all the boys and for Brains along with Penny, Parker, Mister Tracy and herself. "Whoever has done this had definitely done their homework well, either that or they had guessed correctly as to how many of them were doing all the work on each rescue they ever went to." She thought as Ned moved to hand it over to them.

Looking at the stand in Ned's hand Lady Penelope took a step back and let Virgil take it from Ned. As soon as the award was in Virgil's hands Ned started talking again. "We're giving you this award to say thank you. You had saved so many people out there; you had given them another chance at life. We know that you ask for nothing in return but even heroes like you need to receive something once in a while for the good work you do all around the world."

Stepping forward Lady Penelope said. "We thank you for this great gift you had given us today. We will cherish this gift. We do what we do because it's what we do best, it's who we are and we do it because we care about life. International Rescue was created to save lives, not to become famous. All our operators have given up their personal lives to help save a life, not because they were told to do so but because they want to. We hope to be around for many more years and to save many more lives. Again we thank you for this gift you had given to us today. May you remember this day and we hope to see you again in the future."

Stepping back Lady Penelope waited for Virgil and Tin-Tin to walk past her and down to their table. Soon after that they were surprised when no reporter came running up to them as they walked out of the hall and back to where Parker was now waiting for them at the car. Back at Lady Penelope's place Tin-Tin asked. "Where would we leave this beautiful gift? It's so shiny."

Virgil was still looking at it when Lady Penelope answered. "Take it with you; I'm sure Jeff will have a nice spot for it in the lounge."

Turning the stand around where it stood on the table before her Tin-Tin smiled. "We don't have to hide it away from anyone; it doesn't have International Rescue printed on it anywhere. Ned must have seen to that."

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

When they got back to the island later that day the rest of the family came to look at the gift. Making one of the medals swing on the stand Scott asked. "Why didn't Penny and Parker take their medals?"

Looking at her reflection in the cup which was now reflecting the sun Tin-Tin smiled. "The award wouldn't be complete if one medal was taken away."

From where he was standing at the back Jeff watched as each of his sons inspected the gift which was now standing on a glass table near the portraits of them all. "Let this be a day to remember." Jeff said, chuckling as he watched his sons begin to fight.


End file.
